Nets: Game 6 is going to tell billionaire Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov a whole lot about his basketball team. The Nets’ backs are against the wall and they have to win to stave off elimination. Prokhorov spent $190 million putting this roster together to avoid a repeat of the first-round exit the Nets suffered a year ago at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. He’s not going to be a happy camper if the most expensive team ever assembled in NBA history gets him the same result as last year’s squad. On the plus side, the Nets do have some momentum going into Game 6. A 44-point fourth quarter, even in a loss, will do that for you. The fact that the Nets did it with primarily their bench players also has to give them a little confidence. It certainly can’t hurt the motivation for guys such as Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who sat and watched a near-miraculous comeback from the bench. Deron Williams was on the floor, but his 13-point effort is going to have to improve or this will be the Nets’ final game of the year.

Raptors: The big question surrounding the Raps is whether they can shake off their fourth-quarter doldrums and get back to being the team that looked like world beaters in Quarters 2 and 3 of Game 5. There’s no question the Raps were rattled by the Nets’ fourth-quarter push last game. Putting it behind them is going to be the true test. Kyle Lowry is not one of those Raptors anyone expects will be carrying excess baggage into Game 6. He has been unshakable in this series and his 36-point performance in Game 5 was easily his best of the series. The Raptors’ challenge is going to be getting back to semblance of defensive stability. It all went awry in the fourth in Game 5. In that quarter, the Nets easily won the points battle, turned the Raps over four times for 10 points and even won the battle of the boards, an area Toronto has dominated all series. The Nets went 5-for-9 from three, the one area that could change the tide of the series, should Brooklyn ever get going.

THE HOT SEAT

Deron Williams

Williams was positively torched by Lowry in Game 5. He had no answer for the Raptors’ point guard, who was still playing on a bad knee. In Williams’ defence, he did go over on his ankle early in the game and that may have been a factor in Lowry’s dominance. He was a good as Joe Johnson was down the stretch and has been in every game save the fourth, but the Nets need Williams’ offence and 13 points isn’t going to get the job done, particularly when Lowry is going off the way he did.

Terrence Ross

There’s no question Ross got a little something going in Game 6. But with the Nets expected to come out scratching and clawing for their playoff lives, it’s not a stretch to believe Lowry and DeRozan are going to be the target of whatever havoc the Nets can wreak. That’s going to put the onus on the other three starters to pick up the offensive slack. Jonas Valanciunas has been solid throughout the series, while Amir Johnson is coming off back-to-back big games. But it’s at the small forward position where the Raps have the most to gain. Ross is capable of going off and having a big scoring game. We just haven’t seen it yet.

POTENTIAL X-FACTORS

The Crowd

The Brooklyn faithful was lame in Games 3 and 4, dwarfed by the raucous Toronto crowd earlier in the series, and again in Game 5. At some point, they are going to answer back and this will be their only opportunity. Look for the Nets to do whatever they can — we’re looking at you, Kevin Garnett — to get the crowd engaged and acting like they’re actually in a playoff series. The Nets need every advantage they can get and this is definitely one they have not been able to tap into yet.

Greivis Vasquez

When the Raptors need offence from the bench, Vasquez is normally the first call, and he’s been delivering all series. He’s averaging 12 points a game through five and sits fourth on the team in scoring behind Lowry, DeRozan and Valanciunas. He and Patrick Patterson have both played more minutes than starting small forward Ross and, barring that breakout game from Ross we’ve been expecting, that doesn’t figure to change. If Ross can’t provide the offence Toronto needs, Vasquez can.

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE?

Game 1: Pierce down the stretch

The welcome-to-the-playoffs game for many of the Raptors went in predictable fashion, with the younger Raps slowly feeling their way into the series while the Nets came in ready to roll. Pierce, though, was the difference down the stretch, scoring nine consecutive points at one stage late in the fourth to help the Nets pull away for good.

Game 2: DeRozan gets hot

DeMar DeRozan shed that deer-in-the-headlights look and was back to his regular-season self, dominating the scoresheet. He finished with 30 and has not even remotely resembled that struggling two-guard we saw in Game 1 since.

Game 3: Bully ball

On their home turf, the Nets flexed their muscles and, before the Raps knew what had happened, they were down huge and looking at a long climb back up. They almost got there, with a frantic final five minutes, but came up short in a 102-98 Nets win.

Game 4: Raps fourth-quarter finishers

Challenged to respond to the Nets’ physicality in Game 3, the Raptors came out and established themselves early. The Nets took the game back in the second and third quarters, but a final quarter saw Toronto’s defence hold Brooklyn to just 3-for-17 shooting and ran away for an 87-79 win.

Game 5: Second- and third-quarter dominance

The Raptors broke this one open in the second and appeared to be on their way to a rout. But it took every one of Kyle Lowry’s 36 points to avoid a collapse as the Raps gave back a 26-point lead by the three-minute mark of the fourth before gutting it out and escaping with a 115-113 win.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Raps: The visitors came into Brooklyn a little on the shy side a few days back and dropped Game 3 because of it. They were timid and passive in the fourth quarter on Wednesday in Toronto and barely survived a major collapse. This team is at its best when it’s setting the physical tone. If the Raps come into Brooklyn with that hit-first attitude — and, fair or not, a lot of this is on Amir Johnson — this series may very well never see a seventh game.

Nets: The Nets’ best hope to get this series back to even is to find their collective three-point stroke. The Nets shot 39.1% from three for the year on its home court. But through the first two games at the Barclays Center, the Nets shot just 27.5% from distance. Guys such as Deron Williams, with just two threes in 10 attempts at home, need to pick it up. Mirza Teletovic is just 1-for-8 from three at Barclays this post-season.​

DID YOU KNOW?

The Raptors are the first NBA team to win a playoff game despite being outscored by at least 20 points in the final period since March 1962, when the Pistons were outscored 51-30 by the Lakers over the final 12 minutes, but held on for a 132-125 victory. The Raps were outpaced in the fourth quarter 44-24, but still managed to win 115-113 in Game 5.

Raptors vs. Nets Game 6 preview

Nets: Game 6 is going to tell billionaire Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov a whole lot about his basketball team. The Nets’ backs are against the wall and they have to win to stave off elimination. Prokhorov spent $190 million putting this roster together to avoid a repeat of the first-round exit the Nets suffered a year ago at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. He’s not going to be a happy camper if the most expensive team ever assembled in NBA history gets him the same result as last year’s squad. On the plus side, the Nets do have some momentum going into Game 6. A 44-point fourth quarter, even in a loss, will do that for you. The fact that the Nets did it with primarily their bench players also has to give them a little confidence. It certainly can’t hurt the motivation for guys such as Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who sat and watched a near-miraculous comeback from the bench.